TrickBot is now the top threat according to Check Point’s new risk assessment index, replacing Emotet after a law enforcement takedown on the Emotet ransomware operators. TrickBot also recently launched and conducted a massive spam campaign that targeted several different organizations. Check Point published a recent list titled most popular malware among cybercriminals for February, listing TrickBot as the most popular.
In January, TrickBot was ranked third on the list and fourth overall for 2020. However, a combination of TrickBot’s recent campaign and Emotet’s takedown has catapulted the malware to the top slot. After Emotet was targeted by law enforcement and eventually overcome, many cybercriminals allegedly pivoted to TrickBot. Both strains are used for a similar purpose, as first-stage loaders for dropping additional malware. Check Point stated, however, that TrickBot is still not as successful as Emotet was before it was taken offline.
